That’s the impression you get when you visit New York City nowadays, especially now that the midnight bar curfew has been lifted. This flurry of activity has driven subway ridership back to pre-pandemic levels and now even 24-hour service. It’s like a roaring bear awakening from an extended hibernation.
Restaurants are bustling with activity again, hotels are open, and people on Fifth Avenue can walk around mask-less without being accosted. All New York-area airports are operating as usual. Museums and zoos are back to 100 percent capacity, city beaches and pools have reopened, and kids will be back in school this fall. Even Broadway is lifting its curtains.
To celebrate the return to normal, there was a recent fireworks display over the Hudson, plus plans in place for a mega-concert in Central Park. And, while the city has gradually reawakened over the last few weeks, the strangest thing has happened – COVID cases have hit a record low.
The reality is people can be in charge of their own behavior, and the city is better for it.
Broadly, the draconian pandemic era rules and regulations are easing, capped just days ago with a July 1 full reopening for NYC in which social distancing measures and capacity limits became purely optional. This is bad news for government autocrats and fear-mongering news outlets seemingly addicted to exciting alarm amid growing concerns of the Covid delta variant.
Indeed, we are already seeing New York’s “progressive” leaders are finding new ways to keep their grip on private business, all under the umbrella of auspices of well-intentioned policies focused on protecting us from, well, anything and everything.
The nanny-state approach has ushered in a public-private partnership to sign up businesses to require customers to show a so-called “Excelsior Pass” – a vaccine passport in disguise.
As we emerge from the lengthy lockdown, concerns linger that elected officials in New York and elsewhere will introduce many other new restrictions on public, and even private, spaces under the fear of a new pandemic. And if last year is any measure, some New Yorkers might be content to let the government have its way, no matter how absurd the new rules may be.
Indeed, New York 2020 is a case study of the dangers of government overreach. The most glaring, of course, is Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to directly send covid-infected senior citizens from hospitals to nursing homes in the early days of the pandemic. That decision added 15,000+ people to the state’s death toll, according to one report. No individual – not even a governor – should have that kind of unilateral authority.
More than that, the private sector is perfectly capable of generating solutions of its own to steering us out of this national emergency and into a new normal. All you have to do is look around New York, the city that became a symbol of last year’s forced lockdown, to see the resilience of individuals and industry without government handholding.
For example, AMC, which operates some of the largest movie theatres in Manhattan. After a year of government-mandated closures, the big screen is back, and the company is developing real solutions to prioritize customer health.
AMC has teamed up with another private business, Clorox, to ensure their viewers feel safe and comfortable. The collaboration has included frequent disinfection of high-touch points, sanitizing and Clorox disinfecting wipe stations throughout the theatre, and common-sense routine cleaning throughout the day.
Or, look at Yankee Stadium, which has gone above and beyond to develop solutions to keep athletes, fans, and employees safe – all without closing its doors. The iconic baseball stadium became the first sports venue in the world to be awarded the coveted WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management.
It means that Yankee Stadium implemented numerous evidence-based—not randomly mandated government orders—health and safety features set by the International Well Building Institute and verified by third parties. The measures include air and water filtration, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, emergency preparedness procedures, and several other effective methods for mitigating COVID-19 transmission.
Real solutions like these are what the city needs to stay the greatest in the world. Businesses and individuals are fleeing New York City, and other hopelessly blue dystopias, depriving it of the labor force and tax revenue needed to rebuild. One report found that 83 percent of NYC-based CEOs say the city’s burdensome regulations, high taxes, and pro-crime attitude have created an environment terrible for business.
Hence, the next mayor of NYC is charged with keeping residents safe by halting the surge in crime while preventing the New York City economy and related business environment from flatlining under senseless progressivism by the heavy hand of local government.
Post-COVID is indeed a time for us to make the country even better than before, but certainly not to make it worse. The City That Never Sleeps is waking up from COVID, but let’s hope it doesn’t hit the snooze button on actual progress.